At First Glance

Weeks later, Therese found herself standing in front of Momenatre d’Art. Just thinking about having to interact with Gen exhausted her already. Of course, it was inevitable to see her again but she wasn’t ready yet to face the woman she had hurt so bad. Wearing a dark green suit and black silk blouse, she entered the building with all the confidence she could muster.

Approaching the reception, Therese saw Dannie typing up on his computer. She made her way to his table and asked for Genevieve.

Her brother didn’t notice her immediately and was shocked to see Therese all dolled up. “What brought you here? You look like a decent person!”

“Shut up, I’m here for Genevieve. She said she needs to meet me to talk about the upcoming exhibit.”

“Right, let me just ring her office.”

“She said you can come up now.”

Therese started walking to the elevator when she heard Dannie yell “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

While waiting for her ride, the young woman took in her surroundings. The gallery was a two-story building with high ceilings. It was painted in monochrome colors and had little furniture, making the artwork stand out. With vast and clear windows, the sunlight easily entered through the building, helping it look more inviting and open. As natural light filtered in from between the impossibly thin structural concrete beams, the walls and floors seemed to dissolve away. The gallery generated a series of unique experiences and moments, a synthesis of what art should be, the building's being timeless.  Therese couldn’t believe that her photos would be put up here soon.

Once inside the elevator, the brunette couldn’t help but fidget. She was clearly nervous. It was the first she would see the redhead again after the ending of their affair. She was expecting Gen to be cold and aloof to her but what welcomed her was a warm and bubbly woman.

“Therese, it’s good to see you! It’s been weeks already since I last saw your gorgeous face,” the woman winked at her.

The brunette reluctantly sat on the chair near Gen’s table.

“How have you been? I called you here today to talk about the exhibit. I know I said there’ll be various artists, but the board decided to only feature your work. We’ll provide you your own space, don’t worry it’s a closed one, no one will interrupt you while you work.”

Therese was shocked by the information. She didn’t think it would be possible for her to have a solo exhibition. Surprise registered on her face. Her eyes wide and mouth agape, she was speechless, and Genevieve laughed at her reaction. The young woman shook her head and thanked the redhead profusely. She couldn’t keep her excitement to herself and flung to the woman’s arms. She hugged her tightly and it was Gen’s turn to be shocked.

“There, there. You totally deserve it, T. You worked so hard to be where you are now,” she patted her back.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so happy,” the brunette whispered, her eyes still closed.

“Don’t be. It’s nice. I’ve missed you.”

Therese pulled herself off the woman and didn’t respond. Silence filled the room. To remove the tension between them, Gen tried to salvage the situation.

“I have a favor to ask, though. Can you accompany me to the record store downtown? My date was supposed to come with me, but she canceled last minute, saying there was a family emergency.”

The brunette remembered her promise to be a good friend to the woman and so she agreed.

While the sun was setting, the two went to the record store Genevieve had mentioned. Their cab halted in front of a small building. How come Therese hadn’t known about the existence of this store? It stood out among the buildings surrounding it. La Pavilion, the headboard read, looked like a still picture from one of Hepburn’s movies. The brunette was curious to see what it was like inside.

“You ready?” Gen turned to her

Therese was still taking in the aesthetics and just nodded her head.

The bell rang when they entered, making the person in charge aware of their existence.

Carol was fixing pre-orders when the two merged. Her head looked up to see the customers. She was easily transfixed by the woman in the green suit. How odd , she wondered. The brunette’s curious eyes made Carol stop what she was doing. Blue eyes momentarily met the green ones, but their moment was interrupted when Genevieve pulled the woman to the other corner of the room.

The blonde’s heart was beating faster than usual, she couldn’t understand why she was suddenly all flustered. Thank God Abby wasn’t there to witness her reaction, or else her friend wouldn’t have stopped teasing her about it. Carol’s eyes followed the two women and focused on the doe-eyed brunette. She examined her posture and found the young woman enticing. Although she didn’t have her hopes up as the two looked like a couple. The subtle way that her arm wrapped around Therese’s waist signified some sort of belongingness, or perhaps property. But that didn’t stop her from checking out the brunette.

“Who are you?” she whispered to herself. She seemed mesmerised by the presence of the young woman. She was curious about her and wanted to know everything about the petite lady. The blonde continued her inspection, her task was completely forgotten. She tried to make herself more presentable. That day, she was wearing a plaid black skirt and a ruffled white blouse. With her red lips and manicured nails, she looked like a woman straight out of the ‘50s. On the other corner of the store, the blonde heard muffled voices.

“We better hurry, Gen. I want to rest already, and I have an early shoot tomorrow,” Therese tried to reason. She gave the woman a small smile and continued to help her look for the album she wanted.

“How about we just ask the person at the counter? That way we can have your album faster,” the brunette offered. The taller woman smiled at her and nodded.

“Okay, ask the woman in front and I’ll keep looking here.”

Back at the counter, Therese asked the blonde. “Excuse me, do you still have a copy of Amy Winehouse’s last album? My friend has been looking for it for a while now.”

The blonde didn’t expect to hear such a sweet voice come out from this intimidating woman. She even looked more beautiful up close. Carol was so bewitched by her beauty; she didn’t answer for a long time. Blank noise could be heard between the two and Therese was just looking at her impatiently, waiting for the response.

“Excuse me?” she tried again.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” her eyes darted everywhere, seeing anything but the green-eyed brunette. “I’m afraid we’re out of stock. The last copy was just sold earlier this morning. We have her other albums, though. I could show you but I’m sort of confined to this desk,” the older woman shyly answered.

Tucking an invisible hair behind her ear, she hastily added, “You can pre-order, tough. You can have it by next week.”

Therese looked at the woman again, but now with hungry eyes. How can someone as gorgeous as this woman be so shy? she wondered. The brunette lingered for a few seconds more before smiling “That’s that.”